Century-Old Rhino Horn Stolen From University Of Vermont

It's likely headed to the international black market.

Authorities are offering a reward for information leading to the recovery of a century-old rhino horn that was stolen from the University of Vermont last month.

A spokesperson for the university told Vermont Public Radio that the horn had been acquired sometime in the early 1900s for an academic museum and was part of a natural history collection. It came from a black rhinoceros and had hung in a locked room inside the university’s Torrey Hall for decades.

The horn was pilfered in late April when a thief used a drill to bypass a lock meant to protect it.

“My immediate impression is that someone went through some great trouble to target this thing and obtain it,” Robert Rothe, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told The Associated Press.

Campus police have offered up $3,000 for the horn’s return.

Rhino horn is prized in some Asian countries as a cure for everything from cancer to impotence. But the horns have no scientifically-proven medical benefit and are made from keratin, the same material as human fingernails.

Even animals under protection aren’t safe. Earlier this year, poachers killed a rhino living at a French zoo, then hacked off its horn with a chainsaw before fleeing the scene.

Despite the ongoing threats, South Africa recently lifted its ban on the domestic trade of rhino horn. Commercial rhino breeders, some sitting on stockpiles of horn worth millions of dollars, have long fought for such a ruling, saying funds from horn sales could help save the animals and ensure their survival.